William Herschel

“ We are now come to a point no less difficult than essential to be determined. Neither the parallactic nor real motion of a star can be ascertained till its relative distance is fixed upon. In attempting to do this it will not be satisfactory to divide the stars into a few magnitudes, and suppose these to represent the relative distances we require. ”

“ The proper motions, when reduced to one direction, have been called quantities, to distinguish them from the velocities required in the moving stars to produce those motions. It will be necessary to keep up the same distinction with respect to the velocity of the solar motion; for till we are better acquainted with the parallax of the earth's orbit, we can only come to a knowledge of the extent of the arch which this motion would be seen to describe in a given time, when seen from a star of the first magnitude placed at right angles to the motion. ”

“ There are not perhaps among all the stars of the heavens any two that are exactly at the same distance from us; much less can we admit that the stars which we call of the first magnitude are equally distant from the sun. And indeed, if the brightness of the stars is admitted as a criterion by which we are to arrange them, it is perfectly evident that all those of the first magnitude must differ as much in distance as they certainly do in lustre ”